ISIS destroys a mosque built by a ‘scourge of the crusaders’ – Nur ad-Din

Nur ad-Din fleeing from crusaders – not something that happened often in reality

It’s been reported that the thugs of ISIS have blown up an 800 year old mosque built during the Crusades by Nur ad-Din, a Saracen ruler described during his lifetime as a scourge of the crusader armies.

Up until recently, ISIS had exploited the historical significance of the mosque to legitimise their land grab in Syria and Iraq. Three years ago, their so-called caliph Abu Bakr Al-Baghdadi launched the ISIS “caliphate” from the pulpit at the Grand al-Nuri mosque, which now lies in complete ruins.

The mosque was based in Mosul, Iraq – a city that ISIS invaded in 2014. The terror group now faces almost certain defeat at the hands of Iraqi government forces. So they have reacted by blowing up this ancient jewel. It’s appalling to see a mass of rubble where this medieval glory so recently stood.

This mosque was a physical link between us in the 21st century and those far off times. Its builder, Nur ad-Din, famously captured the Knight Templar grand master Bertrand de Blanquefort who was held in prison for three years in Aleppo before being handed over to the Byzantine emperor. Even though he bested the crusaders on several occasions, Nur ad-Din was respected by the Christian chronicler William of Tyre who described him as a “just prince, valiant and wise”.

This is one of many historical sites that have been vandalised by ISIS. Many churches, mosques, shrines, temples and of course the Roman ruins at Palmyra have been trashed by ISIS. The objective is to erase history and undermine the sense of national identity of Syrians and Iraqis. However, with every insane of violence, they simply show themselves to be mindless, bigoted vandals.

It’s difficult to express the outrage generated by the deliberate destruction of these ancient treasures. Yes, they’re just objects or structures that would have eventually deteriorated over time, and they’re not nearly as important as the people in the same region. But they’re all testaments to human engineering and ambition. I’ve highlighted the blatant stupidity of such acts in my own blog.

In 2013, some workers in Belize started tearing into a 2,300-year-old Mayan pyramid to use as road fill. Fortunately, they were stopped before the structure was completely obliterated, but the damage done was substantial. An appreciation for these things isn’t tantamount to idolatry or savage paganism, but rather an acceptance of our past and how it brought us to the present. They’re windows into the lives of those who came before us. They should be revered, not denigrated.